Covid-19, Day 6 , Tuesday 31 March, 2020

It’s four weeks that New Zealanders have been asked to endure, to stay home, to help our country, although many of us believe it will be a lot longer.  Dave and I have both come from rural backgrounds, we both love being active, and we have both relished this time of being isolated, but for how long?  Can we do it without going out for supplies?

Our Agreement

We had an agreement to stay away for the duration, piece of cake we both said, after all we both could be in the at risk group, if we caught covid-19.  We already had reasonable stocks of food as I keep a good supply in preparation for guests staying, and because I grew up in the country where you always had plenty of food.  We have a full freezer, preserved fruit, chutneys, etc, and have a garden full of a range of fruits and vegetables, so it should be pretty easy.  Should be?

Ut Oh!

Great plans to not go anywhere!  Dave realised he was nearly out of his medication, plus he had been told by his specialist, just before everything shut down, to have a flu shot.  So, with that being a very valid reason, he shot into the pharmacy to get his jab and his meds.  This is the first time I have ever seen him go to extra lengths to use PPE! (personal protection equipment).  Being a typical Kiwi bloke, especially of the older generation, his attitude is normally, “I’ll be right!”  He’s as fit as a fiddle and as tough as old boots, and I am sure he will be fine, however I have just read of a guy in Australia who was like that, and everyone was flawed when he suddenly succumbed to the illness, and died. 

The pharmacy was pretty empty, everyone was masked up and Dave felt quite at ease having the necessaries done.  Before long, he was back home, into the shower then straight out to his happy place, on the digger again, ripping into more foundation work for the caravan area. He keeps on saying, as I am sure so many are, “this just doesn’t seem real”.   

Family

In the morning we also had a call from one of his daughters who lives in Queensland, Australia, with a family of three girls.  It’s really tough over there for them, like us no work, but they do not have the same support or guidance from their government. 

And, it was great to have a catch up with my Mum who is 81 and living on her own in a small town north of Wellington called Otaki. A significant day as it would have been my Dad’s 88th birthday if he was still around, so we had a few great memory moments and a pledge to have a toast to him later in the day. The best way to know that Mum is ok during this pandemic, is to keep in contact with her. Her biggest inconvenience is she can’t go playing tennis! She has a huge garden to keep her occupied, and she’s a typical farmer’s wife, has loads of food stored for a rainy day.

Stuck on the Computer

Well, that was me for most of the day - stuck on the computer, in Pare-dise though!  Well I could be a lot worse off that’s for sure.  That was pretty much my day!  There’s so much work that is required to be done on the computer, which is a struggle when the autumn weather is so nice and the outdoors is beckoning.  However, in a crisis, we all need to plan ahead, learn to think and do things differently. 

Our market has largely been from overseas; that is obviously going to dry up over the next 18 months at least, as officials are predicting.  So, it will be the domestic market we are looking to, staying local, being local, now more so than ever.  I received a call today from a guy in Australia  offering his marketing services.  Obviously the response was very quick, “NO, we want to support New Zealanders!”

Covid-19 Today

58 new people today – good, that’s a drop, but the question is, how many are being tested?  647 in total, 14 in hospital and two in intensive care.  The concern is though, there’s a rise in the community spread with seven clusters of people being reported.  Didn’t watch the news as there’s too much to do and it was such a beautiful day, plus I am getting a bit tired of hearing about it all the time.  But, I am one of the many fortunate who does not have to be front line like the nurses, doctors, pharmacists, police, etc.   My grandkid’s Step Mum is one of those, who has had to send her family away for this period so she can work in her role as a pharmacist.  It’s tough.  Read her story here. 

Wrap Up for Today

So for us, a nice way to wrap up the day, was once again, driveway drinks. A bit of a laugh with our neighbours, you can’t beat a bit of good old kiwi banter, the only problem is, what happens if the beer runs out?

Another nice day in Pare-dise!